The Redlands, Calif., teacher, who allegedly gave birth to her student's child, has been fired in the wake of her arrest, Redlands Daily Facts reported Wednesday.
The Redlands Unified School District would not say specifically why they terminated Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst's contract, but the 28-year-old was arrested Monday evening for having sex with one of her underage male students. The boy's mother had reportedly found out about the affair and called the police.
Police said that Whitehurst's sexual relationship with the Citrus Valley High School student began when he was 16 years old and lasted nearly a year. Whitehurst gave birth to a child just days before her arrest, according to NBC Los Angeles.
"One thing led to another, and he ended up at her residence, and it's been going on, going for approximately one year now," said Redlands Police Cmdr. Shawn Ryan told reporters.
"She was open with her pregnancy. I don't know what her story was to everybody else, but it was an open pregnancy. The school district knew about it," Ryan added.
"Nothing is as important to us as the safety of our students, and the district takes this arrest very seriously," Sabine Robertson-Phillips, the district superintendent of human resources, told the Redlands Daily Facts. "We are fully cooperating with police in their investigation of this matter. Because we don't want to jeopardize the ongoing investigation, we don't want to comment further at this time."
Whitehurst has posted a $25,000 bond for her release.
